Christopher Right at Home at Thompson
Overcomes Penalty, Injury To Win Whelen Modified Tour Opener
Thompson, CT — Ted Christopher rallied from two laps down and a hand injury from an early-race spin to maintain his dominance of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. The 52-year-old Plainville, Conn., driver led the last 39 laps en route to victory in the season-opening Icebreaker Sunday.
Christopher’s 39th career tour win came at Thompson, where he is a five-time champion of the track’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Sunoco Modified Division. Christopher has won 12 times on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at the .625-mile oval, including six of the last eight races.
Rowan Pennink finished second, followed by Mike Stefanik. Ryan Preece and Justin Bonsignore were fourth and fifth, respectively.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Midway through Sunday’s race, it looked like Christopher was out of contention. He spun on the backstretch on Lap 52 while battling Ron Silk for the lead. Christopher, who already had fingers on his right hand taped up from a ligament injury, banged up his right hand in the spin. He lost two laps during the incident – one from the spin and then a second from a penalty for pulling up to pit.
Christopher earned the free-pass twice on subsequent cautions and then was up to ninth by Lap 102. He quickly moved to second over the next 10 laps, and then slide by Preece on Lap 115 for the lead.
Christopher finished with a race-high 50 laps led.
Eric Beers finished sixth, followed by Doug Coby, Ron Yuhas, Matt Hirschman and rookie Patrick Emerling.
Defending tour champion Bobby Santos won the Coors Light Pole Award Saturday and led seven of the first 10 laps. However, engine issues knocked him from the race after just 16 laps and he finished 33rd.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will return to the track Sunday, May 1 for the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler presented by CARQUEST.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Icebreaker Unofficial Results
Sunday
At Thompson International Speedway
Thompson, Conn.
Lap length: 0.625 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 63.751 mph
2. (7) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 150
3. (14) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 150
4. (4) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Ford, 150
5. (3) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150
6. (8) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150
7. (9) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 150
8. (13) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 150
9. (16) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150
10. (24) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150
11. (20) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 150
12. (21) Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150
13. (19) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Ford, 150
14. (15) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150
15. (28) Dave Etheridge, Portland, Conn., Chevrolet, 150
16. (30) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 147
17. (23) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 143
18. (31) Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, R.I., Chevrolet, 129, engine
19. (33) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 128, accident
20. (18) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 115, accident
21. (32) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 112
22. (5) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 109
23. (6) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 101, accident
24. (17) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 101, accident
25. (26) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, accident
26. (11) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 100, accident
27. (12) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 92, accident
28. (10) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 62, accident
29. (27) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 61, accident
30. (29) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 57, accident
31. (25) Tony Ferrante, Jr., New Hyde Park, N.Y., Chevrolet, 41, accident
32. (22) Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Ford, 40, engine
33. (1) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 16, engine
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 28 minutes 14 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.645 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: B.Santos (123.376 mph, 18.237 seconds)
Caution Flags: 12 for 61 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Santos 1-4; T. Christopher 5-7; B. Santos 8-10; T. Christopher 11-21; T. Szegedy 22-35; R. Silk 36-75; D. Coby 76-97; R. Preece 98-114; T. Christopher 115-150.
Standings: 1. T. Christopher, 190; 2. R. Pennink, 170; 3. M. Stefanik, 165; 4. R. Preece, 165; 5. J. Bonsignore, 155; 6. D. Coby, 151; 7. E. Beers, 150; 8. R. Yuhas,Jr., 142; 9. M. Hirschman, 138; 10. P. Emerling, 134.